Changes
by JMProfio
Summary: Set mostly during the time on Ibara, after Bobby destroyed the flume. Bobby thinks the war is over, and creates a sort of truce/stalemate between him and Dane. Slight shipping in later chapters, nothing graphic.
1. Chapter 1

**Journal # I**

So… new journal. New situation, new journal. At least, that's the way I see it. I mean, it's not like I'm ever gonna get off Ibara, and I threw my ring away, so this is just for me. More of a diary than anything else, really. I want to write down my thoughts.

And I've had a lot to think about.

I've been helping the people of Ibara to rebuild-trashing the dado parts and making sure any last bits of tak are gone. But the more we rebuild, the more I wonder if I did the right thing. Was it right of me to mix the territories? I mean, sure, Dane's trapped here and we've technically won, but what about the other territories? What about the newly unearthed tak mines on Denduron? What about Quillan, where as far as I can tell we straight up lost? What about everyone on Second Earth?

Did the end really justify the means?

I feel so helpless here, like I've been cut off from the world. And I am-I cut myself off.

Was it the right choice?

I started seeing Dane around a few days back. At least, I was pretty sure it was him. I'm pretty sure there aren't many ravens here, and a big one had started handing around the shoreline. Every time I see it, I throw rocks at it until it goes away, but then every day, he's back again.

I'm debating confronting him, but what would I say? What would _he_ say? Would he admit defeat? Would he try to fight? I can't even figure out what he's doing out on the beach every day.

There's more important things to do now, though. We're still rebuilding, and there's not much damage Saint Dane can do here, other than making my life a living hell. For the safety of the universe, I can put up with that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Journal # II**

I confronted him. I know I'd said I wouldn't worry about it, but he was bothering me. Plus, I think the villagers were starting to think I'd lost it, running around and screaming at birds. I just couldn't figure out why he kept hanging around. Was he planning something? Had he fixed the flume, and started wreaking havoc on Halla again? Or was he going to exact revenge against me, as punishment for trapping him here?

The paranoia was killing me. I couldn't get him out of my head, couldn't stop wondering what he'd do next.

So I waited by the beach, eyes peeled for the large raven that I knew he'd be disguised as. When he showed up, I watched him flying around, making a big show of not screaming and throwing things like I had been doing. Once he'd noticed this apparent truce, he circled low and landed in the sand about ten feet away.

I eyed the bird suspiciously, watching as he ruffled his feathers and regarded me with unreadable raven eyes. For a moment, I worried that it was just a normal bird, and I'd just been traumatizing the local wildlife. But it was a pretty big bird-like, the size of a large house cat-and I'm almost certain I'd never seen a raven on Ibara before. It had to be him.

"What are you planning?" I asked.

The bird cawed, and again I had the creeping fear that I was just talking to a bird. But it had to be him. It had to be.

"I know it's you," I said. "So turn back into a human and stop making me look crazy."

The raven cawed again, then shifted into mist, and a moment later, there he was in front of me: Saint Dane.

"I have to admit," he said, "It's incredibly fun to make everyone think you've gone mad."

I wasn't going to let him get to me. "What are you planning?"

He smirked. "Would you believe me if I said 'nothing'?"

Probably not, I realized. In fact, the more he insists that he's not up to something, the more likely I am to think he's up to something. I think he realized it, too.

"Look, Pendragon," he said. "You've destroyed the flume over here, and the other may as well be impassable. Unless I could move several tons of rubble or create my own flumes, I'm trapped here, the same as you."

He was still smirking. Like he knew something I didn't. I hazarded a guess. "_Can _you make your own flumes?"

Dane let out a dry laugh. "Would I tell you if I could?"

Touche. I guess that would have made things a lot easier, if I could have just played 20 questions with my nemesis. As it was, I was left to assume that he couldn't. Why else would he still be hanging around Ibara?

And he was still smirking at me. I wanted to hit him, if only to wipe that stupid smug grin off his face. But that wouldn't accomplish anything, would it?

"Well?" he said. "Are you satisfied that I'm not up to something?"

I wasn't, but I couldn't really prove he was up to anything, either. With a shrug, I muttered, "I guess. For now."

Evidently, he found this pretty damn amusing. "Should I take that to mean that you're keeping an eye on me, Pendragon?"

Have I already mentioned how much I wanted to hit him?

I nodded, even though if he went back over to Rubic City there would literally be no way for me to watch what he was doing. He'd figured this out, I could tell. But instead of pointing this out, he just smirked some more.

"Very well," he responded. "But rest assured, I won't make it an easy task."

With that, he morphed back into a large raven, cawed once, and took to the skies, headed toward the city.

It's been about a week since then, and I haven't seen any sign of him, bird or human. He's probably been hiding out in the city, laughing to himself as he wonders how I'm going to get across the sea.

I have no idea how to get over there. Even with some sort of boat, the quig bees would sting me to death before I ever reached the shore. If I could shapeshift like Dane, maybe I could just fly over; trust me, I've tried, and I can't.

I'll just have to hope he's not up to anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Journal # III**

So… I think he's following _me _now. And I think it's my own damn fault. I might have done one of the stupidest things I've done since I got here. Though why he gives a crap is anyone's guess.

After about a month of not seeing Saint Dane anywhere, it was driving me crazy not knowing what he was up to. I had to find out, or I'd snap. If his plan was to drive me insane, it was working.

What was he doing over in Rubic City? It was too far away to see from the shoreline, but the lack of transport coupled with not being immune to hundreds of bee stings meant I couldn't really go get a closer look.

I knew there was a big cliff farther down the shore line, and as far as I can tell it's the highest point in Ibara where I can see the city. So I got the dumb idea to climb to the top, to see if I could catch a glimpse of what he was up to from there. Really stupid, in retrospect, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. So I set out to go climb to the top and try to catch a glimpse of Rubic City.

The cliff was a lot higher than it looked and a hell of a lot closer to the busted flume. The tak I'd used to destroy the flume had damaged parts of the cliff, and bits of it were pretty unstable. But even though the entire thing looked like a death warrant, world-class genius Bobby Pendragon just kept on climbing.

Once I got to the top, I realized a very important fact: I couldn't see jack from up there. I was a little closer than before, but unless he was literally shifting the buildings, I may as well have been on the beach still. I'd spent half a day climbing to the top of this death trap for a whole lot of nothing, and it was frustrating. I picked up a rock and threw it over the edge; the rock fell for a minute before landing on the ground with a thud.

I was suddenly aware of how high up I was. How tall was this cliff? If I fell, could I even survive? The ground was falling apart all over on the way up-how sturdy was the part I was standing on?

Immediately, I had the urgent desire to get the hell down from here. The transition from living, breathing human being to puddle of mush on the sand was _not _something I wanted to experience. In my frantic retreat from the edge, I wasn't watching my step very carefully. My foot landed on a particularly cracked area, and the next thing I knew I was plummeting over the edge.

Not gonna lie, I thought I was going to die. I was gonna crack my head on the cliff on the way down, or I was gonna break every bone in my body when I hit the bottom. If I was lucky, I'd land in the water-and then get caught in the undercurrent and drown.

I was stuck thinking of all the different ways I was about to bite it.

Then, suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore. I'd landed face-first on a large, soft… something. It was big-big enough for me to fit on its back-and covered in jet black feathers. My surprise turned to confusion as I realized what my savior was.

It was a massive, black raven. I was sure ravens didn't normally grow that big, and I still didn't think Ibara even _had_ ravens, which left one absurd option: Saint Dane had just saved my life.

This suspicion was confirmed when the bird deposited me on the sand and morphed into the pale form of my arch enemy. He looked really angry, like thoroughly pissed off. I was too shaken to say anything, or even move from where I was standing.

"Are you _demented_?" he snapped. "Were you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

I couldn't think of anything to say. I was still in shock that my _enemy_ had saved my life, and the way that he was berating me for my carelessness was doing nothing to lessen my confusion. Why had he saved me? Why was he in any way concerned for my well-being?

If I was the one who nearly died, why did _he_ look so shaken?

He seemed to pick up on my confusion, and I think it brought him back to his senses a little. He composed himself, and muttered, "Don't get the wrong idea. Since we're trapped here, if you die I'll be left to antagonize the locals. And you're much more entertaining. So don't go throwing yourself off of any more cliffs."

It took me a minute to realize it, but I think he was actually trying to be _nice_. I mean, sure, he was still being kind of a jerk, but I think he was trying to tell me to be careful. Unsure of how to respond, I eventually just said, "Um… thanks?"

He didn't answer, just turned into a normal-sized raven and circled overhead for the next hour.

So like I said, he's following me now. I think. Every now and then I'll see the raven overhead, or I'll be walking through the village and see someone with those same lightning blue eyes. I don't know _why_ he's following me, probably making sure I don't fall off any more cliffs, but at least I can see what he's up to now. And if he's bothering me, that means he's not doing anything in the city. So that's good.


	4. Chapter 4

(Author's Note: Sorry it's been a minute since I uploaded, I've been busy with school and work and stuff. Also I forgot how short this chapter is; it looked longer in my notebook. I'm gonna post another couple of chapters tonight, and try to see if I can get to a bit of plot progression.)

**Journal # IV**

Okay, so maybe always knowing what he's up to wasn't so great. It's kind of weird knowing your enemy is watching you at any given moment. I feel like I haven't had much privacy this past week. Yeah, I know, I should make up my mind-either I want to know what he's up to, or I want him to leave me alone. But I want to know what he's up to _without_ having him following me around every day. I think he's doing it just to bother me; I mean, it's not like he was _actually _worried about me hurting myself, right?

I didn't want to, but considering the war is over, I thought maybe we should make a truce.

I went down to the shoreline and sat down in the sand, watching the raven circling overhead like I'd done the last time I wanted to talk to him. After a minute he seemed to notice that I was watching him, and he swooped down and landed in the sand a few feet away, shifting back into a human form.

"Something you want to say?" he asked. It might have just been me, but I swear there was faint amusement in his voice.

It seemed like a stupid idea now that I was looking at him, but he's literally the only person here that I can talk to about the outside world. "Look," I said. "The war's over, and we're both stuck here for the rest of our lives, so… truce?"

He smirked slightly. "You're asking if we can be _friends_?"

I still didn't like the sound of that, saying Saint Dane is my friend. "Maybe not friends. But acquaintances that aren't overly abrasive, maybe?"

He obviously thought this was extremely funny. But after he let out a short laugh, he smirked at me again and said, "Fine. Truce." Then he turned back into a raven and left without another word, leaving me wondering yet again if I'd made the right choice.

I'm not sure if a truce with Saint Dane was the best idea. But hey, it's better than driving myself crazy wondering what he's up to. And maybe if we get on good terms he can show me how to shapeshift-that'd be kind of neat.


	5. Chapter 5

**Journal # V**

This hasn't gone too bad, as stalemates go. Since we made a truce, I haven't been worrying as much about what he's doing. Somehow, I think I'd already figured he couldn't be up to anything. I mean, he can't even get off this territory; what's he gonna do?

It's not too bad here now. There's no battle to be won, no one to fight… it's peaceful.

But I still miss home. Sometimes, when I look over at Rubic City, it almost looks like a darker version of Stonybrooke, with the giant Lifelight pyramids looming over dilapidated buildings, barely visible from Ibara. I can almost convince myself that home is just across that sea. But it's not. This isn't Second Earth-it's Veelox. And I can't ever get back.

I'd been moping a while, sitting on the beach and watching the city as if I could will it into being home. I heard someone sit down next to me, but I didn't give it much thought. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to care about my surroundings.

What was everyone doing, now? Are Mark and Courtney helping get the other territories sorted out, or have they just gone back to everyday life in Stonybrooke, content that the war for Halla is over? How are the other Travelers doing? Do they know Dane's here? Do they _know_ the war's over? And what about Nevva? Is she here, or out there somewhere? Is she-

"Are you alright?"

The deep voice cut through my thoughts, and I realized that Dane had sat down next to me, and had just been watching me as I moped.

I shook myself out of my contemplation. "I'm fine," I replied. "I just keep thinking about my friends. I wonder if they're okay."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why wouldn't they be? The main source of strife for them is trapped on another planet, and I'm sure they can bounce back from your 'disappearance'. It's not like you're the only student at Davis High to suddenly go missing."

This surprised me, and I'm pretty sure he saw it. He couldn't have meant… _that_. How could he possibly have known about _that_? "How… how do you know about Marsh?"

Marshall Seaver-or Marsh, as everyone called him-was a student at Davis High, back before all this started. His friend got in a boat wreck, then Marsh went missing, and everyone said he'd run away. But how on _earth_ would Dane know about _that_?

The pale demon looked amused. "You honestly never guessed?"

A dread passed over me. "You didn't…"

He scoffed. "I didn't do anything to Marshall. _Or_ to Cooper, if you're wondering. I'm just amazed that you never once recognized me." He shifted into a new form, a form I'd seen a million times before. In retrospect, I feel like I _should_ have known. Like, I should have been able to figure it out. It was really, really _obvious_.

Because sitting there next to me, an amused smirk on his face, was Andy Mitchell.

"Geez," he said. "You really _are_ an idiot."

I couldn't think of what to say. Saint Dane, my arch nemesis, and Andy Mitchell, the guy that had terrorized me since grade school, were the same person. How had I never _realized_? I guess I just sort of assumed that Dane hadn't been on Second Earth before the war for Halla started; people I'd known already had been eliminated as possible Dane disguises. I guess I've probably gotta rethink that now.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised," he commented, still as Andy. "You haven't exactly been that observant in the past."

I wanted to object, but really I knew he was right. He could have flat-out told me and I don't think I would have believed it. I _still_ couldn't believe it.

"So…" I said eventually. There was something I wanted to double check, just to be sure. "You didn't have anything to do with what happened to Marsh and Coop, right?"

He looked genuinely surprised by the question; then he laughed and shook his head. "No, I had nothing to do with that. They were involved with something much darker, and personally, I don't envy those involved with the Morpheus Road."

"The what?" I asked.

"Nothing," he answered quickly, the amusement dropping from his face. "It would take too long to explain."

I let the issue go at that. He knew what happened, I could tell, but for now I believed him when he said he had nothing to do with it. Besides, they weren't Travelers and they didn't know the first thing about Halla. It was probably just a coincidence, completely unrelated to us.

We talked for a while after that. It was kinda weird, having a pleasant chat with Saint Dane. Especially because he stayed looking like Andy for the rest of the conversation. But at the same time, it was nice to be able to talk about Second Earth again, even the bad things, like Coop and Marsh.

For a minute, it felt like I was home again.


	6. Chapter 6

(Author's Note: meant to upload this earlier, but my internet crapped out for a couple hours. At least I've got it up, though. And I think I recovered the plot! I probably won't make this story longer than ten chapters, but rest assured I am working on it! Also I mentioned some Morpheus Road stuff in Chapter 5; sorry if it sounded kinda out of place, I got rambly for a little and I remembered those books were in nearly the same universe.)

**Journal # VI**

Okay, so… um. Something happened. I'm confused, so very confused. I don't understand why the _hell_ he would-

...Maybe I should start at the beginning.

We'd been meeting up at the beach almost daily, just kind of hanging out and talking. It was still really weird, especially given his new appearance. Ever since he'd told me, he'd decided to show up as Andy, and I just _could not_ get used to it. I'd called him out on it a couple times, and he'd told me it made him feel younger. Go figure.

"This form is different from the others," he'd explained. "It has more… character."

I had to laugh a little at that. _Andy_ has character? I guess so, if being an asshat builds character. He probably meant that he'd been Andy for so long that the disguise developed a personality of its own or something.

But back to the point.

He was acting all weird-or, weirder than normal-today, all pensive and distant. I'm not saying that I was worried about him or anything, not by a long shot, just a bit… concerned. And cautious-what if he was planning something again? I hadn't seen him head back towards the city, but for all I know that's where he goes when we leave the beach. How did I know this truce wasn't just a ruse?

I didn't mention it, since if he was up to something I wouldn't want him to know I'd caught on, and we just continued to chat like normal. Besides, he didn't look like he was planning anything; just like he had something on his mind. Something he wanted to say.

"Seriously though?" I told him, "It's freaking me out hanging with _Andy_ like this. Isn't there anyone else you could turn into?"

He smirked slightly, then shifted until his appearance was more closely resembling Courtney. "Better?"

"Not really," I answered.

For some reason, seeing Dane disguise himself as Courtney bugged the hell out of me. Like, he looked like her, but I could still _tell_ it was him. All of the kindness in her face that usually made her appear friendly and likeable was replaced with a cool, calculating intelligence that almost seemed to drain the life out of her. It was like looking at undead-zombie-vampire Courtney.

He seemed to pick up on this, and an almost pitying look passed across her features. "You really miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah," I answered. All of my nostalgia for Second Earth came flooding back up, and I had to look away from the copycat Courtney before I started getting emotional. No way I was about to cry in front of _him_. "Look, can you _not_ do that?"

"Sorry." He sounded legitimately apologetic, and when I turned back to look at him he was in a form I'd never seen before. He was still young, maybe a couple years older than me, and about my height. He had the usual pale skin and bright blue eyes, but his hair was jet black and fell to about his shoulders. His high-collared suit had turned red, accented with gold trim. He looked… good. Like, really good. Like, I'm-not-ever-going-to-admit-that-he-was-hot good. Okay, fine. He was incredibly attractive. He was _hot_. And I hope he never reads this journal.

If he noticed my reaction, at least he had the decency not to call me out on it. Instead, he just continued our earlier conversation. "You care so much for your friends. I can see why she's so fixated on you."

My first thought was that he meant Courtney, but the way he said it made it seem like he meant someone else. And the next thing he said confirmed it.

"Nevva was quite taken with you on Quillan."

I wasn't really surprised. I'd had a hunch that she'd had a thing for me since the Games, and this just confirmed it. Even if she hadn't _told_ her mentor, he would have seen through her. I decided it would probably be best to change the subject; going down this route would almost definitely end in an argument, and I was just not in the mood today.

I risked a random line of questioning. "What about you? Is there someone _you've_ got a thing for?"

He scoffed, and gave me a look of amused disbelief. "You get the chance to ask anything at all to your enemy, a shapeshifter trying to control the _universe_, and you ask if I have a _crush_ on anyone?"

I shrugged. "Just making conversation. No need to get all defensive."

"I'm not," he responded, just a little too quickly. "Besides, I've been too busy to fret about something so juvenile."

Oh, he was hiding something, I could tell. He did _not_ want me to keep asking about this, and for some reason that made me want to ask more. There was something fun about pushing his buttons, and it seemed harmless enough.

"Well, what about Andy?" I asked. "You said he had character. I bet he at least had a _type_."

He didn't look amused anymore. In fact, I think I hit the nail on the head. You can't even _pretend_ to be a teenager without the subject of dating coming up at least once. And I could _tell_ he didn't want me to know. I figured, considering Andy and I went to the same school, it was probably someone I knew.

"C'mon," I said, trying to tease an answer out of him. "You're on a completely different planet. What's the worst that could happen?"

He didn't answer; it looked like maybe he was debating whether or not he should. Watching him squirm was hilarious, and even though I knew I should drop the issue before he bit my head off, it was just oo much fun. Plus, now I was curious. What kind of girl could Saint Dane have a crush on?

After a moment, he sighed and smiled humorlessly. "Fine," he said. "You really want to know? Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I answered immediately.

I could tell that he really didn't want to tell me, and I could half understand that. I mean, rule #1 of high school is don't tell your enemy something they could use against you. But we were stuck on Ibara-no one but the two of us would ever know. Who was he worried that I'd tell? Was he just embarrassed?

My train of thought came to a screeching halt as he leaned forward and kissed me. To say that I was surprised would be the understatement of the century. That was literally the _last_ thing that I'd imagined or expected, and I was just stuck for a minute, dumbstruck.

He pulled back a little, and muttered, "You really _are_ an idiot."

I am so confused. He kissed me. He actually just… _kissed _me. Then he just turned into smoke and left before I could say anything. I'm pretty sure if I _had_ said something it probably wouldn't have amounted to much more than "What?" Even now, all I can think is just, "..._What?_"

I don't know what to think. Not only is this the first time I've even been kissed by a guy, but it was _Saint Dane_. My _enemy_, truce or no truce. This has gotta be some kind of mind game. It's gotta be.

Right?


	7. Chapter 7

**Journal # VII**

I steered clear of the beach for a couple days. I still wasn't sure how to respond, so my plan was to just avoid him until I did. The incident on the beach was replaying itself over and over in my head, and I still didn't believe it.

Saint Dane had kissed me. _Saint Dane._ And thinking back on it, I hadn't exactly pushed him away. Namely because I was too stunned to talk, but still. I _had_ technically let him kiss me.

I kept going over scenarios in my head. What if I had pushed him away? Would he have tried again? Would he have acted like it was just a joke? What would have happened then?

What if… what if I had kissed him back?

I couldn't stop thinking about it. I don't know why I'd even _consider_ kissing him, but… I was. His lips were cold; it seems like a weird thing to notice, but that was the first thing I thought when the confusion died down. Not like _corpse_ cold, but like out-in-the-snow-for-a-while cold.

Really, it was kind of… nice.

I couldn't believe myself. Was I seriously considering what it was like to kiss Saint Dane? I mean, yeah, he'd kissed me first, but I wasn't really considering kissing him back, was I? I think I was. That was a thing that was definitely happening.

My mind was kind of rebelling against the idea, and I kept repeating the same things over and over again in my head. There's no way I actually wanted to kiss him; he was my enemy, my nemesis, the last person in the world that I should be thinking about locking lips with. It was probably just stress…. yeah, that was it. I was just stressed out, and it was making me delusional.

I decided to go for a walk to clear my head; maybe some fresh air would help me realize how ridiculous this line of thinking was. Out of habit, I immediately headed toward the beach; I caught myself in time, lingering just inside the treeline. The last thing I wanted to do right now was talk to him.

Peeking out from the trees, I couldn't see if he was hanging around the beach today. Not that I _wanted_ to see him, but it would help to know where he was, so I could avoid him. What would I say the next time I saw him? What _could_ I say?

"What exactly are you doing?"

I jumped as the familiar deep voice spoke up from immediately behind me, and I spun around to meet the lightning blue eyes of the _last_ person I wanted to see right now. He was still in that young, regal form from the other day, and I was having trouble looking him in the eye.

"I'm, um, nothing," I stuttered out. I could feel a blush spreading across my face, and tried to somehow push it back. I was _not_ blushing in front of Saint Dane; I was sure as hell not blushing _because_ of Saint Dane.

He was smirking slightly; he knew exactly what was going on. "Is this about the other day?"

Yeah, he knew.

I tried to act calm. "Oh, that? Y'know, I was surprised at first, but it's cool. I mean, it's still kind of surprising, but it's not like I'm overthinking it or anything."

I started rambling-pure, unfiltered word vomit. My face was still bright red, and he was just calmly watching me with a half-amused smile. It seemed like the more he stood there, watching me with those lightning blue eyes, the more I rambled, like I was afraid of what would happen when I shut up. I _was_ afraid of what would happen; I was nervous and apprehensive and I couldn't stop blushing.

"Bobby."  
There was something in the way he said my name that made me stop dead. He still looked amused, like he could tell everything that I was thinking. And now that my rambling had been interrupted, I couldn't speak at all. I was just stuck, frozen under his icy-blue gaze. Then he kissed me again. And without even thinking, about what I was doing, I kissed him back.

It was amazing. There's no other way to describe it; I kissed my nemesis, and as much as I hate to admit it, it liked it. When I kissed back, it was like something _ignited_. This was ten times better than kissing Courtney; it made that kiss look like kid stuff. It was all just _feelings_, touch and taste and warmth.

This couldn't be a trick; it feels too real, to visceral. And if it _is_ a trick, I don't think I ever want to see through it. If it's a trick, I don't think I mind falling for it.

Falling for him.


	8. Chapter 8

(Author's Note: So I finished these last few chapters, and I'm just going to post the rest of this story all at once. There's a bit of a jump and it gets a bit choppy-I hit a little writer's block, plus just a tiny bit of sleep deprivation. Hopefully it still makes sense. Also this chapter is the last one in journal format; the POV switches a little.)

**Journal # VIII**

I don't know why I'm still writing in this journal now. "New situation, new journal." Yeah, right-nothing changed. The only thing different is I've realized what an idiot I've been. I don't know why I ever trusted him.

The war for Halla isn't over. I'm the only idiot that ever thought it was. I just quit, content to think there was no way we could get off of Veelox. I let myself believe the other territories were safe. I let myself believe that he actually _cared_, and now everything's falling apart around me. And now here I am, Bobby Pendragon, the gullible idiot.

I've gotta say, it wasn't a tactic I'd expected. When we kissed, it had almost seemed genuine. I think I'd wanted it to be.

But it wasn't, was it?

I've gotta stop writing in this journal now. I need to go after him. I need to go back to the war. It's time to save the universe. Time to chase down Dane and beat him for good. Time to stop moping about something that could never have been.


	9. Chapter 9

(Author's note: Different POV this chapter! Also final chapter! And I think I accidentally made a sad ending? I'd written another chapter after this one, but I think it ends better just stopping it here, so… last chapter. This one was harder to write since it was in a different POV, _and_ it was later in the books, but I hope it's still good.)

Bobby.

I found your journal shortly after you left Ibara, presumably chasing after me, and I'm sure that you won't mind that I kept it. You made it incredibly clear that you were done with it, so I took the liberty of skimming through the pages. And I can say it's quite the intriguing read, Bobby. ALmost as entertaining as the journals you send to your acolytes.

There are a few things, however, that I feel the need to correct. Rather, there's one specific thing.

I didn't lie to you on the beach. It wasn't some type of clever ruse meant to gain your trust and lower your defenses. It wasn't a planned strategy, or even something that I'd intended. I meant every word that I said, and that kiss was real. It was the genuine article, believe me, and I can tell from these journals that you were just as genuine.

You may never find these journals. You may never see this fragile confession of a proud man. I have no doubt that you're going to be my death, and once I'm gone Press will most likely set everything back to how it was before. Whether he lets you read this, or even whether he lets you remember, is debateable.

But if I'm going to die, Bobby, there's something I have to tell you. Something I _need_ to say, even if you never hear it.

I love you. It sounds cliche and ridiculous, but I genuinely and truly do love you. I'm not sure when it started-probably with Andy, with watching you grow and change and mature, growing _with_ you as a peer. Kind, clever, athletic Bobby Pendragon, with his million dollar smile and transparent infatuation with Courtney Chetwynde.

I never saw what you saw in that girl. She was a generic, bland airhead, yet she stole your heart the moment you first saw her. I tried to understand her appeal, but every moment spent in her presence was infuriatingly _simplistic_. When you returned to Second Earth, did she tell you about Whitney, I wonder? I tried to kill her, you know-threw her off of a cliff and left her at the bottom. But for some reason, I felt almost _guilty _for it. I saved her, saved the girl I loathed so that the boy-no, you're a man now-the _man_ I loved could be happy.

I'm running out of time now, Bobby. They think you died on Second Earth, but we know better, don't we? You probably know about Solara now, about the true origin of the Travelers. And now you're coming here, infiltrating the Ravinian streets to defeat me once and for all.

You'll be the death of me. And I'll be waiting.

With love,

Saint Dane.


	10. Chapter 10

[Author's Note: I originally wasn't going to upload this chapter, and just leave the entire story as the journal entries and the letter, but I decided it might be better with just a little bit of closure, and if my stories haven't made it obvious I really don't like the end of the last book, so… this. It's still a little open-ended, but it's really saccharine and in all honestly about half of the reason I didn't upload it was because I was worried it took away from the overall story. But here it is, I guess.]

It was a bright day in the late summer, and all of the teens in Stonybrooke were preparing for another year of school. Outside of Davis High, the existing students were catching up with old friends, while the new students gazed at their surroundings in a nervous haze. Bobby smiled up at the familiar brick building, smiling at the prospect of another normal year.

_Normal._ A momentary speck of concern flitted through his mind. Why had he though "another _normal_ year"? What else would it be?

He shrugged off the feeling, instead heading toward where he could see his two best friends in the world conversing. Mark spotted him approaching, and the two jogged over excitedly.

"Hey!" Mark exclaimed. "Man, I feel like this summer lasted _forever_!"

"Yeah," Bobby responded. "But it's kinda weird."

Courtney cast him a concerned look. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "I feel like I can't… _remember_ a lot of what I did. Or about last school year. It feels like I just watched a movie about myself instead of actually doing it, y'know?"

"Yeah…" Mark agreed.

The teens' excited grins were quickly replaced with furrowed brows as they attempted to pinpoint exactly what it was that felt _off_. It was a strange feeling, like through some trick of fate they were remembering things wrong. But how could that happen? And more importantly, _why_?

Their contemplation was abruptly interrupted by a gruff shout from nearby. "Hey! Pendragon!"

The three turned to look at the interloper, and almost immediately a thick dread passed over Mark and Courtney's faces.

"What's _he_ doing back?" Mark asked.

"Dunno," Courtney said. "I had the weirdest feeling he wouldn't be here."

Bobby was silent, staring into blue eyes that for some reason he hadn't expected to see. Though he couldn't explain it, he'd had the strangest feeling that something had _happened_ to Andy Mitchell. He'd moved away over the summer, or gone to juvie, or died or something, hadn't he? But there he was. And for some inexplicable reason, Bobby found himself smiling at the familiar enemy.


End file.
